The client called about "Sally," her 2 year old, spayed female mixed Labrador Retriever/Beagle. They had gotten Sally from the local pound six months earlier. The former owners moved and said they couldn't take her with them to another state.

Sally had started growling when she was touched while on her bed or was lazily lying somewhere near the family members, which included a 7 year old daughter. The parents were worried that Sally might bite their daughter. When she first started the growling, the owners scolded her by saying "No, bad girl." Sally's reaction was to leave the person doing the scolding. (An excellent response by Sally, as it turned out.) Sally's health history was excellent, except for an injury (probably bruising) that caused her to limp after playing rough and tumble with some other dogs at a play park. She was given a rest from playing for a few weeks and she seemed OK, except that she ran into rock later and bruised her shoulder. More rest-from-play saw her back to apparent health... at least she walked and ran normally. There was no growling during this period.

The growling had started, as the client put it, "out of the blue" a few weeks later.

The client was advised to have the veterinarian check Sally for spinal vertebral alignment. Two serious misalignments were found: One in a cervical (neck) vertebra and the other at a lumbar vertebra. Two chiropractic treatments realigned the vertebrae successfully.

The clients used the BehavioRx Instructions for Aggression to Owners, with the Learn-to-Earn Praise and Petting, No-Free-Lunch program. Sally quit growling when petted and she is now an outgoing, happy-to-be-petted family member.

The clients confided in me that they were on the verge of returning Sally to the pound before contacting us. Such dogs usually suffer the "ultimate solution" and are put to death.

Sally was lucky. She had owners who understood that, when a dog growls at its owner, there is a cause. Whether it is real pain, or simply the fear of pain, the cause should be discovered and treated.

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